Let’s analyze using a current item from the Forward:

The Jewish Week reports that the hip, super-stylish Soho restaurant is being made to undergo a rebranding as a result of its seeking kosher certification from the OU. Paying homage to a 9th century B.C.E. queen of ancient Israel who built temples to pagan gods and negatively influenced her husband King Ahab, may have worked until now. After all, the restaurant touted its “decadent” atmosphere on its website.

But now that it has decided to try to attract more traditional kosher diners, Jezebel is being thrown out (though perhaps not as violently as the actual biblical queen was).

“We felt the name Jezebel does not represent a person who has a positive reputation in the Tanach [Bible] and was not a name we want to promote,” said Rabbi Moshe Elefant, the head of the OU’s kashrut division. Notably, this is the first time that the OU has insisted on the renaming of a restaurant.

It sounds like the OU rabbis don’t want their own brand to be harmed. And perhaps something else here was left unarticulated. The name-change is about ensuring the owners (previously touting their establishment’s “decadent” atmosphere) have the right mindset (like how potential Jewish converts are made to move, etc., etc.).

In general, private organizations should be allowed to discriminate, fire customers at whim, or make demands, just like their customers do to them, and let the market decide who wins and who loses. But of course, the modern State’s “laws” are always purposely biased toward any then-existing institutions in many ways, so…

It can’t hurt to remind ourselves of the Torah’s blessings we take for granted.

I once protested a non-observant Jew using unclean language when upset.

Insulted, he thoughtfully countered: “Well, maybe you and your kind don’t say those words when you are frustrated, but you do still think them!”

He appeared quite taken aback when I honestly revealed to him this was not true.

One can homiletically say this was true of modest Shaul Hamelech, as well. The pasuk opens saying his words were left unsaid (שמואל א’ כ’ כ”ו, ולא דבר שאול מאומה ביום ההוא), yet he used the negative expression of “not pure”. But only homiletically, since the actual proof Rabbi Acha brings in Pesachim 3a, כי אמר מקרה הוא בלתי טהור הוא כי לא טהור is Scripture does so when recording Shaul’s thoughts.

(By the way, the truth is, unspoken thoughts usually transcend language. Still, there is a difference between thinking X and not thinking X. There is even a difference between the thought-equivalents of positive [profane] and negative [not pure].)

 “… the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”

P.J. O’Rourke

Disclaimer: The following is impressionistic, and relies on memory instead of exact references.

A student wants to improve his understanding or recall of the Torah. What should he do?

Modernity’s Advice:

Learn even harder, slow down, push yourself!, push off the distractions of marriage as long as possible, stay up all night, get enough sleep, humility (although the Brisker Rav said we don’t even know what that is), open XYZ on the sugya, avoid too many commentaries and aim for volume, learn Lishma (well, convince yourself your kavana already equals Lishma), get rid of those De’os Meshubashos (i.e., stop reading Kedushas Tzion and Tanach), do a Taanis Dibbur, talk in learning, review until you want to scream (don’t worry, eventually it becomes sweet), forget immediate chazara and learn “begirsa”, pray for a “shtella”, get a better chavrusa, get a weaker chavrusa, learn Mussar, learn more Mussar, learn even more…, switch yeshivas, write and propose chiddushim to motivate yourself, learn on Friday and Shabbos and early-morning…

History’s Advice:

Learn Lishma, Eat Chulin Betahara, cry for the churban (see this, by the way), give [more] tzedaka, first get married to evade untoward thoughts, pray, say vidduy and do Teshuva in tears before learning so one has Divine assistance (etc.), go to the mikveh first if needed, be careful about Netillas yadayim, study from books printed by God-fearing Jews, move to the land of Israel to study, study with a tune, accept Nezirus, do sigufim [pre-Ba’al Shem Tov, anyway], watch your speech, exile yourself to a place of Torah, first go to the bathroom or cut your hair and nails to rid yourself of negative “Dinim” etc., fast (for part of the day or Ra’avad etc.), uncover chiddushim to make the Torah “yours”, wear Tefillin, pray to The One who grants wisdom, say Tehillim, do a big mitzva, do chessed, pray for a better memory (אוקמי גירסא), learn with the intention to observe what one has learned, be stringent about XYZ, do some melacha, eat breakfast (B.M. 107b), avoid luxuries, avoid delicacies…

There is some overlap, clearly, but only some.

Reactionary that I am, I suspect our wise forebears were right about the teleology of holistic Torah study, sweet to body and soul alike, while we feverish moderns, aspiring Brain-in-a-vat Types are, um… never mind.

Some Jew ought to make this rigorous and write a book on this. Maybe call it:

“My Friends, We Were Robbed!”

Some American rabbinic statements (short):

Download (PDF, 1.74MB)